Dead Center - 1/4: Hotel
The Survivors start on top of a hotel, The Vannah, converted into a evacuation center, recently swarmed by the Infected. The Survivors witness the helicopters moving to a different location, and decide to follow them through the city. The Survivors become acquainted in an elevator and the Survivors must pry the elevator doors open, making a loud screeching noise that summons the horde. Afterwards, they must fight through the remainder of the hotel, which is on fire. Strategy Campaign You start off on the roof with only a second pistol, first aid kits and melee weapons. After that, you head down a flight stairs and this is where you leave the safe area. (And when the Infected can spawn) You have two choices: you can go through the halls, or you can go on the ledge. Both have advantages and disadvantages. You can go room through room and find many useful items like Defibrillators, melee weapons, pistols, Adrenaline, pills, and Magnums (Usually in the room to the right after you leave the safe area. sometimes in the room connected to that room along with a melee weapon sometimes). You may also find a chainsaw in one of the rooms, making the nearby Crescendo Event much easier. After going down a long hall, you make a left, and right when you turn half of the hall erupts into fire, forcing you to go into a supply closet and then on the ledge of the hotel. Go to the end of the ledge (Go out the left window of the closet.) then go into the last triple window, make a right, then go down a staircase with 3 or 4 CI. You find yourself going yet another hall. Be careful in this hall, as two doors will erupt the door area with flames if opened, forcing you to go onto another ledge if opened. These doors can be recognized by smoke seeping through the bottom. Finally, when you reach the end of the hall you, make a left and find yourself in a large room. You then go into the open elevator and close the doors once everyone is in. While you are in the elevator, the Survivors begin talking and get to know each other. Once you reach the bottom floor, which is on fire, you have to manually open the elevator doors, causing it to make a loud creaking noise causing Crescendo Event. You can easily defeat the horde by either going to the back of the hall and defend there, or stay in the elevator. Remember to look for weapons outside the elevator. After that, you can go into a room with Chrome Shotguns and, possibly, a health pack or defibrillator unit. You then must go down a small hall that is on fire, forcing you to move into a kitchen. You have to jump over the metal table and head into the lobby. You navigate through the fire in the lobby to reach an open door that leads to the main lobby and ultimately the safe room. Versus The hotel is a complex and difficult series of rooms and fire. The Survivors have to walk in areas that are potentially harmful to both teams. There are plenty of instant kill spots, but do realize that you have to have precise aim, perfect timing and most of the time, luck, to kill a Survivor and not just have them hanging or miss. Also note that the Survivors have to go off on the ledge once, but if possible, you can make them have to attempt the feat again. The floor with the elevator has two doors leading to rooms filled with fires. If the doors are open, the fire leaks into the hallway, blocking their path. Do note that clawing the door open will set you on fire, so only take the risk if you know what you or your team are doing. Be very careful when spawning downstairs. The fires don't "appear" until the elevator gets close, and once you spawn, you may start taking damage because you were standing in a fire you couldn't see. Look at the ground for the darker "charred" areas when spawning. Chargers: There are several areas where you can excel in this level, but you must know how to charge correctly. The hallway where the Survivors first encounter the Infected and the hallway with the Elevator posses a low hanging window and enough room to charge Survivors down to an 7 or 8 story fall. However, the window is quite small, that even an inch off will result you hitting the window pane and causing very little damage at best. If you have time, line up properly in spawn mode before attempting the charge. There are also plenty of areas where you can bowl through Survivor teams, giving you enough time to at least damage a Survivor. In the burning area of the building, attempt to push Survivors into the fire or hit them when they are grouped close together. Sometimes, these situations call for you to charge through the fire anyway, which will surprise and confuse the enemy team, possibly long enough to get some lethal damage in. Smokers: Indoors is not prime Smoker territory, to do well and be evil here Smokers have to think outside the box. Attempt to grab straggling Survivors to hold up the group or attack any Survivor attempting to rescue a friend from incapacitation, hanging or another Infected. There are ways, although quite difficult to achieve, to pull Survivors off the edge of the building. If you can drag a Survivor off the edge using the closet that sticks out the side of the building, then just give yourself a pat on the back for doing so. However, downstairs in the fire is your best place, as dragging Survivors into the flames will have dire consequences to both the victim and the rescuer, especially if you managed to down your target. Jockeys: Although there are several areas you can ride Survivors off ledges, think about the idea for a second. If a Survivor is not resisting, you can pull them off to their death, however, if they are resisting, they will hang on to the ledge. This will result in the Survivor dangling while the Jockey falls to his death. And if you only pull them off when the other Survivors aren't that close or when your special Infected buddies aren't covering you, your victim can be pulled up with only a minor scratch; leaving your Infected team a player down for some time with the Survivors at the same health. Only attempt to pull off other players when they aren't resisting or when they are far away from their team. In other cases, ride the Survivors into rooms that can provide you cover, as the common Infected and your constant scratching will do more then a failed suicide drop. As always, attempt to get the last Survivor of the group, single bile covered Survivors or the only clean Survivor if their teammates have been boomed. Once the Survivors are on the burning ground floor, you can pull the weaker Survivors into the fire, resulting in extra damage and possibly incapacitating them inside the flame. Do note that even though they receive damage from a burning floor and a jockey, you will also be damaged by the fire. This tactic may backfire if you grab a healthy Survivor or if you are weak. If this is the case, simply ride them as far back as you can take them. If you cannot go for incapacitates or distance, just buy time for your team to respawn. Hunters: Much like Smokers, the indoors will not treat you well. To get high damage dealt to Survivors will only be caused by pinning Survivors or your claw. Watch the situation, and remember, when you stand, you are silent. When Survivors are covered in Boomer bile, simply scratching their back will do a significant amount of damage while they shoo away the regular Infected. They may not even notice you, but remember, before the elevator, they will only have melee weapons, pistols or a magnum. Use this to plan whom to target with which attack. Try clawing the firearm wielding Survivors while leaving the melee weapon wielding ones to other Infected that can attack from a distance (the Charger or Smoker). When it comes to using your pounce, only attempt to pounce the lone wolf or lagging behind Survivors, to do enough damage before the rescuers can get to them. When it comes time to the elevator portion, the fire below (although it seems like a static source) is really a dynamic type of fire. Setting yourself on fire and pouncing a Survivor can deal more damage then simply attacking them alone. Do note that this will kill you while your health is being burned away. There is one thing that should be stated when a Hunter sees a Survivor in the fire, to pounce or not to pounce. While the fire will activate your extra damage, and while the fire will burn the Survivors health too, do note that an Infected who stands in the source of the fire will lose more health then one who is just on fire. Pouncing those in the fire will always depend on the situation(what is your health what is that Survivors health, what is the distance between that Survivor and the others, will your Infected buddies be backing you up, etc). If you feel the options are good, you can take the pounce. As always, the Hunters do well based on the situation. If you can manage to make it into the safe room closet without being seen and you don't charge up a pounce, you can remain unheard and unseen by the Survivors as you delay the round end. The Survivors will often try opening and closing the safe room door repeatedly in an attempt to fix it, allowing your teammates to scrape off that little (or big) bit of health needed. Spitters: A Spitter's main goal should always be to damage Survivors that are unaware or to buy time by blocking paths Survivors must go. However, given that this level is very straight-forward, you will probably be seen by a Survivor once you spit, and it is likely that you will die once they see you. Pick your spit times carefully. When Survivors are distracted by a horde or a special Infected that captures a friend, spit to add extra damage and force them to change their plans on the spot. However, there are times when the Survivors will simply bolt through the level, getting as much distance as they can. A single spit puddle down their only path will most likely stop them as they would not want to receive any extra (and possibly unneeded damage), buying your team time. Also, when the spit is fired, most Survivors attempt to " jump out" of the puddle, whether or not they are in it to begin with (so long as they don't see the actual goo on the floor). Use this to your advantage and try spitting on areas near fire or on the ledges; you would be surprised the panic the goo will have. As for downstairs during the burning area, the same rules apply. The smoke should give you better cover, but don't rely to heavily on it. Remember, purple Survivors distracted with a horde can take extreme damage if you add some of your goo to that powder keg. Boomers: Before the Survivors reach the elevator, you should know what weapons the enemy is wielding. The reason is that some Survivor teams might grab all melee weapons (especially if the magnum doesn't spawn), meaning that the Survivors will be defenseless to prevent your bile spreading explosions. However, players that wield pistols and magnums should be vomited on through instant spawn and vomit techniques, or avoided at all costs. You should also note if any Hazmat zombies are carrying bile jars, and if any Survivors themselves find bile jars. The reason is that Boomer bile from a jar or a Boomer itself share the same priority with common Infected, and will only care on attacking the closer target. However, as the Boomer, simply vomiting and covering the Survivors will not be enough; this is one of the few areas where if you have the ability to run away, take it. Constantly vomiting on Survivors (which may cause them to toss bile jars in response) will not only get them to waste their supply of bile jars, but be helpful during the fire portion of the map and later one, once they run out of bile jars completely. When the Survivors are walking on the ledges of the building, your explosion can knock them off into their hanging state. (One deadly strategy as all players tend to push the Boomer away the a shove during this section is to take damage from another Infected to lower your health, which will cause you to explode earlier than the Survivors expect.) During the burning building portion, your main goal should still be to cover Survivors in the bile, not because it attracts the horde (as only the hazmat zombies will reach the Survivors without burning, and even then, can be killed quickly), but to blind the the Survivors. Given then low visibility they suffer due to the smoke, they may not notice that a Survivor has been showered, or may not be able to tell the difference between one who has been showered or one who is taking damage from another Special Infected. They may also panic thinking a horde may come upon them and attempt to get into a corner or stop to take care of it, leaving them or the rest of the team open to your teammates. Tanks: If you spawn on the levels before the elevator, you have a very easy time since they don't have any Tier 1 Weapons Take care not to fall out yourself though. If you spawn after the elevator then you might be unlucky as sometimes you can spawn before the survivors open the elevator and you will die of frustration. The most you can do is try punch them through the elevator. Do note that a majority of them will be carrying melee weapons, and they take off 10% (in a recent update melee now only takes 5% of health) of your health per swing. Hit Survivors off the building or into the fire, but avoid the fire yourself. And be very careful of bile bombs, as the blinding effect will apply to you, and summon common Infected to slow you down and damage you. Notes *The chapter starts out on a rooftop, similar to No Mercy. *This hotel is featured in the Zombie Survival Guide trailer, when the Survivors are seeking to get to the evacuation center.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u39KZJIJ7VA&annotation_id=annotation_572345&feature=iv Scene at 1:21 *It is possible for a Charger to instantly kill you by charging at you while you are by a window. *This campaign is interesting because of the fact that there are initially no Tier One weapons available to the Survivors—only melee weapons and pistols. The poster foreshadows this, since it shows the Survivors holding only melee weapons. *Just after you go down the first set of stairs, there is a large room to the right that seems to be a conference room. There are many maps all along the table, all showing that the Infection has engulfed Philadelphia and half of New Jersey completely, while it appears that most other evacuation locations have small or medium outbreaks. It is assumed that these maps were created in the early stages of the Infection, as the whole plot of the game revolves around reaching the cruise ships in the Gulf of Mexico, which are the only safe spots for Americans left, as the mainland has been completely overrun. Occasionally the survivors will comment on the map saying that the whole country has been infected. **In the same room, there is a poster board dedicated to the Anatomy and traits of the Boomer. Apparently, the CEDA took great interest in the Boomer (which probably lead to the creation of the Bile Bomb). * *This is the first time the Survivors encounter the CEDA Worker Infected. *It was at this campaign that the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors meet together. It is not known how the Survivors manage to get together, but it is possible that the Survivors followed the sound of the rescue helicopter and coincidentally crossed paths with each other since the start of the campaign at the rooftop which they curse the helicopter for leaving them behind. *This is the only level where a Witch will not spawn. *This is the only level where a Tank will not spawn. *An interesting glitch happens if one is brought back to life while the elevator is moving. The player will float through the roof of the elevator and if the process of bringing them back to life is completed they will find themselves on the roof of the elevator. The player can then go through a hole in the roof of the adjacent elevator and potentially skip the crescendo event all together (with willing teammates that is). However, Special Infected may attack the lone Survivor from the opening where you entered the elevator. *Another glitch happens during Single Player (or in Campaign with three bots), when the player heads to the balconies outside the working elevator and attempts to hop to the other that's next to the closed doors. If the player is hanging on the ledge, the bots will make a very futile effort to safe him/her. *Photos of Boomers posted in the CEDA HQ are from the first Left 4 Dead. *Molotovs never spawn in this chapter. That could explain the fires throughout the hotel as it's possible previous Survivors used them in self defense and it got out of hand. *In this chapter, the Survivors have different healing quotes that indicates their inexperience in using a health kit. *It is possible for a Charger to charge you as soon as you exit the elevator, and to push you into the fire behind. Every now and again, you will get stuck when this happens, and you will have to make the choice of either dying, or restarting the level. References Category:Chapters Category:Dead Center Category:Left 4 Dead 2